Landowners to get pitch for wind-power superhighway

No, the Grain Belt Express isn't a monorail pitched by a con man like in "The Simpsons"; it's a transmission line designed to carry wind-generated electricity.

Beginning next week, Clean Line Energy Partners will host a series of public meetings about the project along its potential route.

The 750-mile line would run from Kansas through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, leaving its mark across a swath of southern Illinois land.

Michael Skelly, the Houston businessman behind the project, is bringing his pitch to Illinois landowners, asking them to host the towering transmission line in exchange for payment rather than force him to seek eminent domain.

Clean Line already has approval to move forward with a similar project in northern Illinois. The 500-mile Rock Island Clean Line project is designed to move wind-generated electricity from Iowa to Grundy County, southwest of Chicago. The Illinois Commerce Commission approved that project in November despite protests by Commonwealth Edison and a large group of landowners.

The projects, each expected to ship enough electricity to power 1.4 million homes annually, could hurt other power generators in the state, including Chicago-based Exelon, parent of ComEd. Clean Line counters that the projects will help consumers by driving down electricity costs.

Following this round of meetings, Clean Line said it will hold its third round of public meetings on the Grain Belt Express in early March and hopes to file for regulatory approval with the Illinois Commerce Commission later in spring.